A French-speaking Quebecker, overworked like many others in our time, sets off on a road trip towards some of Quebec’s First Nations communities in search of meaning, of healing, and of a different way of reading the world. He tries to understand the ravages of colonialism perpetrated on these nations by a system that continues to favour him. He seeks to see what has been done in his name, with the intuition that through these people, he will gain a better understanding of what is happening to him. His journey will lead him all the way into the prison system, where the over-representation of First Nations people is symptomatic of the traumas these communities have inherited, and of the systemic racism that persists.

Arising from several stays in First Nations and Inuit communities, Foretelling the Land is an introspective movie about our relationship to reserves, both Indigenous and natural, and to the colonization of land and of thought.

The issues addressed in the movie are delicate and fragile. Numerous ethical challenges marked the creation of this project and dictated its form. Putting himself at the heart of this journey allows Philippe to situate his relationship to the First Nations: he is a white man seeking another way of seeing the world, a way that flows out of the land he lives on, with the intuition that on the way, he might understand the exhaustion that he feels. He humbly tries to meet them and listen, and as he listens, we hope that the audience does too. Philippe is not a member of a First Nation, but colonization is a trademark of his culture. So he goes towards them, vulnerable and sincere, and in doing so, he unearths the truth of what has been done, and is still being done, in the name of his culture. This is not a film about the First Nations, rather, it is about the colonialism specific to Western culture. It is a work of introspection that we believe is necessary.

The script was written following continuous work in various communities, based on respect and with the desire to listen. The text, taken from testimonies, was read and approved by the people interviewed. The result is a film with a mixed aesthetic influenced by these cultural exchanges. It conveys a desire for contemplation and places emphasis on oral traditions, including an Indigenous language, portrays the land as a character, shows the journey of the author as he seeks to understand and listen, and above all, ensures the presence of First Nations artists on the production team and in the cast.